Industries and hobbies such as dentistry, sewing, electronics and fishing require various equipment which must be stored and sorted for convenient transportation and use of the equipment. These and other industries and hobbies have often found it helpful to use storage boxes, tool boxes and the like in organization and transportation of the various tools and equipment.
For example, fishing tackle has commonly been stored for use in fishing tackle boxes and the like. The majority of boxes are styled such that they may contain all of the fisherman's various fishing tackle and equipment in one box. Other "tackle box" configurations have been produced wherein tackle and equipment for particular purposes or a particular species of fish is contained in a separate container for each type of lure and/or species of fish. These types of boxes are referred to as specialty boxes and include those designed to carry only spinner baits, or only plastic worms or only jig and pig type lures. The majority of hard type boxes have trays which slide out or fold out to display or access tackle or equipment which were contained inside of the fishing box for storage. Thus, in the past the fisherman had the choice of buying a large tackle box to hold all of his tackle or buy a series of the specialty tackle boxes to store fishing lures used for each particular fish species or type of fishing he would be doing.
Invariably these prior boxes would not entirely meet a fisherman's needs. Thus, the fisherman is in the continual process of rearranging and replacing tackle in his tackle box for purposes of customizing his box for a particular purpose.
In order to accomplish this customization the fisherman would either have to replace the tackle already in his box and store tackle which he did not want in a separate location or he could use separate boxes which contain different sets of lures or equipment. Since many lures may be effective in fishing for different species of fish there is invariably some type of customizing or changing of lures taking place whether he chooses the specialty box or the larger tackle box. This requires the necessity of external storage for the lures which are not in use or the inconvenience of using an extremely large tackle box which can carry all the fisherman's tackle. Such a large box will carry all the tackle rather than only tackle which is to be used on a particular expedition causing inefficiency in size, weight and lure selection.
Therefore, it is a goal to provide an easily customizeable equipment carrier which can be readily adapted according to a particular need.
Space is at a premium in any boat and particularly in some of the smaller fishing boats used by sport fishermen today. A large size tackle box is inconvenient and undesirable. Likewise, a series of smaller boxes also takes up much space in a boat and is cumbersome for loading and unloading. The use of a large tackle box also requires the fisherman to search through his box to find a particular lure since the lures are not readily visible at the same time in conventional tackle boxes.
Additionally, some of these hard type tackle boxes also require a large amount of space to unfold into in order to access the most remote areas of the box further impinging on the space available. This is of course undesirable in a fishing situation. Also, such hard type boxes are not easily packed in luggage or carried during travel such as when the fisherman is going on a fishing trip to a remote location, traveling by airway or otherwise traveling. Hard type tackle boxes are also troublesome during travel since the upsetting or overturning of such a tackle box will generally create an immense tangle of lures inside of the box.
Tackle boxes of the past have attempted to provide some customizing by means of interchangeable drawers and/or smaller separate boxes which can be placed within the tackle box. The disadvantage of their large size and the inconvenience in selection and display of lures is undesirable in use in a fishing situation. Especially when considering that today fisherman tends to travel to get to remote fishing spots in order to get the best fishing possible. Also, the present day fishing tournaments require professional fishermen to travel thereto and thus pack their gear or otherwise ship their gear to the new fishing spot.
In order to remedy these apparent disadvantages in hard tackle boxes, soft type "tackle boxes" have become increasingly popular. Some developments in the soft tackle storage art are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,073 issued to Sidney M. Goldman and U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,469 issued to Laurance C. Alsobrok, et al. The fishing tackle management system of Alsobrook, et al. has a system of smaller tackle holding containers which are designed to carry specialty types of baits such as crank baits or plastic worms and which containers are packed into a master container in order to hold the complete tackle collection of a fisherman. This system attempts to replace the large style tackle boxes of the past in that it is designed to store all of a fisherman's tackle in one master container. While this tackle management system allows ease of packability for travel the lures are again hidden in smaller containers inside of the master container. This requires that the master container be opened up, the smaller container located and unloaded, and then the smaller container may be opened up to locate and access any particular lure. Thus, the disadvantage of the hard tackle system is inherent in this system also in that the baits are not displayed in one easily identifiable and accessible place wherein the fisherman can easily find the proper bait without searching through a series of hidden containers. In addition, the fishing tackle management system of Alsobrook, et al. requires boat space for storage of the master bag and also requires additional space in which to lay out the smaller tackle pouches in order to access his lures. Because of this, the Alsobrook system also has the disadvantage of requiring some space for spreading the components out.
The tackle storage apparatus of Goldman has a foam back layer which displays all of the fisherman's tackle at once, however, the lures are only carried by hooks which are stuck into the foam pad and therefore, may be shaken loose or may become tangled with one another during fishing or storage creating greater inconvenience and possible lossage of tackle for the fisherman. In addition, the fishing tackle storage apparatus of Goldman also seeks to replace the hard box type system in that side pocket members are provided for packing larger items than just the fishing lures and terminal tackle of the fisherman. Therefore, this apparatus requires a complicated packing and unpacking to prepare the apparatus for storage and carrying after each trip or each access to the fishing lures inside.
A further disadvantage of some "soft type" tackle boxes is that they may be less durable than the hard boxes particularly in colder weather where the construction materials may crack or otherwise deteriorate from being exposed to the elements or due to strenuous usage. Also, the lures in these "soft type" tackle boxes are generally sealed within plastic pouches which may result in more rapid deterioration and/or oxidation of the fishing lures or hooks inside because there may be a lack of adequate ventilation or drainage. Additionally, the tackle management system of Alsobrook, et al. requires overlapping lure containing pockets which tend to wear on each other causing deterioration which is undesirable and requires replacement of these parts as they become worn out.
Therefore, while the above apparatuses have attempted to replace the hard type tackle boxes of the past they have retained some of the disadvantages of box type tackle holders.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a self-contained customizeable foldable equipment carrier which solves the above problems apparent in hard and soft tackle boxes.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an equipment carrier which allows easy visibility and access to all lures or equipment contained in the holder at one time thereby facilitating easy access and removal of the lures for use.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a customizeable self-contained equipment carrier which allows easy replacement of self contained equipment carriers such that specific tackle or equipment may be stored and contained in the self contained carrier and selectively added, substituted, removed or replaced to provide customization of the equipment carrier without undue time consuming single replacement and/or individual replacement of lures or equipment.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide an equipment carrier which will save space in that it does not necessarily have to be stored on the floor or other horizontal surfaces but may be opened and hung vertically on a surface such as the gunwale of a boat during fishing and then folded for packing or transportation thereby creating greater flexibility.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an equipment carrier which is durable for withstanding the rigors of fishing at substantially all temperatures and climates and which will not have inherent design problems which would cause untimely deterioration of the equipment carrier.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a soft type fishing tackle holder which reduces oxidization and moisture damages to lures or equipment stored therein by providing suitable drainage and ventilation in the tackle holding pockets and/or using materials which are breathable.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a customizeable equipment carrier which may be readily adapted for us in storing and transporting many products in many different areas of use.